Variety (Sep 1935)

Wednesday* September 25, 1935 VAUDEVILLE VARIETY 67 UNIT REVIEWS SALLY RAND UNIT (SHERMAN, NEW HAVEN) ^ New Haven, Sept. 19. After" a~6reak™ln' weeTc'at'TSprlhg- neld the Sally Rand unit has settled down Into ah hour of nice enter- talnnteht, with a peppy • troupe working on a stage dressed in ex- cellent taste. Unit Is by ho mieians ■fiti'lc'Uy Rand. lt .caxxlesi.&,£as.t roller skating duo, a good Spanish prima donna, a diverting boy and girl team and the knockabout Mandelis, plus an attractive lliie of girls. ClarK RoMrksewwerftad wI4h Jiiss Rand on staging the unit, which ■ ■use&-4t»--B€t»--to--sond--Jl;dvantaee._ Afte^ playing New England spots, show heiads south through Penn. and ties in with Whatever time of- fers the best bargain. Played for Paramount In Springfield, Warner here and goes to RKO in Boston, with the William Morris office book- ing. In some spots where Sunday shows Jire nixed for the unit, Miss Rand puts on a condensed version of 'Rain.' brthging in legit talent for one day only. Following overture, there's an off- stagei mike announcement as girls (12) come on for a, spoken chorus number. Swell setting of guls in blue against scarlet and black traveler carrying a British motif. It's a clever routine with a trick finale that exposes an even dozen unadorned derrieres popping out of backless frocks. Benny Ross, m.c., Intros The Thrilers (Al Clare tt and Margie Weyr4ck)i whose speedy skating turn picks up where line girls left oi¥. Pair use some audience stooges for laughs and close With a good swivel linale.. Ross brings on Senorita Carlta, who does one excellent straight number and on second song goes Into some clown- ing with William and Joe Mandel. She has a nice voice and delivery. Following some chatter, with Jack Sherman handling off-stage mike, Ross does a piano'bit, then calls in Maxlne Stone for balance of their act. Duo work well together for laughs, the slow motion stuff being a neat way to stretch a five-minute turn into 12. Ross has a pleasing voice, which he wastes with too many attempted comedy breaks^ es- pecially following similar mayhem to Carita's notes by the Mandels' rowdy curtain-repairing business. Girls back In black tights for rhythm routine against a shadow drop, with a ramp used for entrance and exit. Mandels next, with spe- cial drop. Boys click heavily, and finale with hand-to-head balance that draws a big hand. Mike announcement as girls In' ballet.number prelude Miss Rand's fan dance. Lights a big factor here, a green and rose combo bringing an especially nice effect. Fan dance Is handled on full stage With dancer entering atop center stairway. In- digo spot used throughout becomes trying on audience orbs. Bubble dance follows limmedlately,- behind a scrim, also on subdued stage. Unit closes with girls grouped at base of stairs as Miss Raiid is briefly spijt- lighted at top. Only thing that keeps unit from a complete click is lack of a satis- factory finish. After building to fine audience reaction, a lot of it is lost In closing minutes. Granting that ifeft. Baud - -routines comfi --'.wder.- 4he- head of terpslchorean art requiring subdued Ughts and modulated tones, in contrast to what , has preceded, presentation as is stiii leaves a weak ending that needs some sort of fliash finale to bolster it. Frankly, fans have come to be startled (a^ per tho Rand publicity) and when they oglo a semi-classic dance, even .though beautifully done, tbe let- down Is too marked to send them owt Ti/li^.v -Witli- this - Temedltsd.- show should register almost any- -where. r— ■ : -Bonei-' 0N£ HOUR WITH YOU (PALACE, ROCHESTER) Rochester, Sept. 20. . This unit rates as pleasant enter- tainment and with a bit of polishing will be better. It Is distinctly ap- pealing to the eye, has variety, speed and balance. Opening per- formance drew .much stronger ap- plause than usual for an afternoon audience In Rochester. Show is Introduced, on the screen' like a silent featurie, then switches to l6ud speaker at side of stage. Curtains part of 12 David Bines Girls doing a tap while seated on low stools. House ork, costumed, is deployed high at back of the stage throughout the performance. Set- ting, is attractive in dark colors with huge chandelier effect above stage. Girls In red polkadot short skirts, white blouses, perky, red hats and mitts make a pretty picture and do some nice, unison dancing before, stepping back to provide back- ground for an acrobatic- number by Marjorie Clay. She climaxes with a split on two chair tops and drop to floor that doesn't look. easy. Llb- onatl Trio follow with some fast xylophone numbers, alternating with stepping by the girl a^nd one of the men while the other solos on the xyl for a nice hand. Al Norman m.c's a bit and does a series of funny Imitations of how people sileep, but really doesn't hit his stride until aided by a couple of stooges planted in the audience. Snappy eccentric dancing' by trio closes this number. Joaquin Garay, singing arid Imi- tating with aid of a loudspeaker, gets a hand, but loses at least 60% of his appeal by putting the fence between hlmse)f and the audience. If his real voice matches his person- ality, he should drop the loud- speaker from the top of the Empire State building. Girls do two other numbers, one a phosphorescent terp with sets of three In different colored costumes, the other in long yellow gowns in dance routine as Garay sings. Closer is Paul and Nina GezzI In their balancing act. that is tops and draws j heaviest applause of the show, but hardly the' type for a smash finish. Show runs an hour and hag few dull moments, even though not overburdened with originality. Record, Aryan Imitations, Too Berlin, Sept. 8. For more than a decade the Rivels, highest-paid clowns in Europe, were doing an excel- .-,Knt. CharlJe..ChapJJn...tJt)ltatl.on,.. not forgetting the little mus- tache and the stick with the bowler—Reappearance of the Rivels here this month at the Wintergarten is niinus the Chaplin figure, changed into eveninjs: dress. Seems that Chaplin is ta- boo with the present goveri>- ment on the religious angle, so. tlie Wintergarten' manageme'ut thought, well-^T. NEW ACTS DAVE APOLLON HELD OVER AT CHICAGO THEATRE; CHICAGO For SECOND WEEK With His 40 Artists—International Varieties"—40 Artists Direction: BENNY BURKE—Curtis & Allen Agency MADALYN WHITE APrjBARIKG WITH BELL BROS. AND CABMEN FEATURING NOVELTY DOUBLE CANE TAP DANCE Created br SAUMT BURNS O T H K A. T* R E S 1 2 7 0 SIXTH AVENUE RADIO CITY NEW YORK SIRENS IN SATIN (ORPHEUM, LINCOLN) Lincoln, Sept. 21. A glrly show this, but carrying enough novelty to shape up into a good variety bill. 'Sirens' is Ed Gardner's No. 1 show on the, CusH- man time and he'is following right behind this one with another. Gard- ner has the rep and 'keeps it going here for having all his girls lookers when he brings out a show, which is more than can be said for the general run of units. Show is backed by Sanimy Mayer's ork and is augmented on this date by the house standby. Commencer is. the girl line with Jack Storey in the midst, going from a waltz bit into somie reveal- ing fast stuff from the femmes which Wakes up the gent contingent of the audience. Com.er and Anderson, one strong on avoirdupois, do plenty of clown- ing in the deuce. • When they settle down, which isn't for long, the heavy lad can sing very nicely. On twice during the bill, the last time they click oh a fan dance burlesque and a change of pace dancing setto; Elliott Sisters, putting, heat in, have some smooth torisb tosses and are lighted right for the most out of it. They out to give the spot to Shannon Stanley, comely aero twist- er, and she's an eyefull as well as having accompanying talent. Dexter and McGinty, the latter a dummy, inject some novelty ven- triloquism, Dexter's yodelling mo- ments rate the biggest hand. Delre and Mack, knockabouts, are good immediiately after, and Langdon and Storey, ballroom steppers, come off with a good hand. A gypsy rou- tine by the girls and finale. House practice of bringing in a headllner to support the units conr tinned this week and the ace spot goes to Roscoe Ates and his partner, Barbara Ray. Ates was a help at the b.o. and his clowning was over in fine fashion.. A few of his gags could stand tidying, but this college mob ate it up. Show altogether ran B7 minutes, of which Ates took 10. Unit was shorn of a band number to cut the time, but looked oke. without it. •There's too many band numbers spotted in the run of these units anyway, considering how they're usually handled. Barney. CAMPUS CAPERS (VARSITY. LINCOLN) Lincoln, Sept. 20. Biz is showing improvement at this house on this new Paul Spor concoction, 'Campus Capers,' which Is right on the button as an Idea to greet the college crowd fresh in for the first week of school. But, im- provement notwithstanding, house drops yaude after this week to make way for a couple of good pics, which after they're used up, will in turn make room for the stage shows again. Seems bad, too, that policy on which plenty of dough was sunk to start, will be broken. Betty Reed, xylophonist, starts this performance after a few foot- ball shots are put on the scrim a.nd the latter hoisted on a touchdown play. She goes into three numbers and hits the keys hard oh the last, which successfully arouses every- one. Bussey and Case, No. 2, are oke except the woman's song. Shouldn't be done straight, because she hasn't a straight voice.. College monkey.s threw plenty of pennies during her operatic interlude. The man, though, has, the stuff to get 'em, especially when he lays in his dancing. Spor fronts the band Here with two .numbers. Angelo Syracuse for- sakes the piano to vocal the first and Bonnie May DeLea choruses the second. Waller and Lee, fast crossfire gagstcra, in' the trey are heavy material and speed the show, up In lively fashion. The girl .stooges from the house in the opening and works twice as hard later when she. pots on the right side of the footlights. Waller fools with a flddlo and is an excellent straight. Shut is Burns, Moriarty and Dell, hoofers', A good act and the hoof- ing is classy. However, audience re-, action on the challenges at the end is tiring, since each of the three- some tries to outdo four times. That's top much. Routines only merit a couple of time.i anyway. Show runs 46 minutes, about six overlong, but in generally snappy, Barnc]/. Chic ENDOR and Charlie FARRELL Singing 9' Mins.; One State, N. Y. . Hea-£.'.s: Ji. eingljig. duo_that.JKOi}l(l. have murdered them at the Palace In the old days; But the Palace of the past is in the past, and Endor and Farrell are doing all right: without it, though they should be welconie in vaude a.nytlme. they chose to change from the,monotony of the nighteries, or double.' X strong and , rather complete surrounding show held Endor and Farrell- down to three- nunrbertr here, but all of them, were top specials. Plrs.t is a medley of pop.s, second a takeoff on 'The Man bn. the. Flying Tfapeze,'' wfine~last"ls '"Cheer TTp,' Everything Is Going to Be Lousy.' All told, the songs include about 20 strong punch lines, but, while they would have been howls at the Pal- ace of oldtlmes. few in the State audience gave them more than a passing giggle. Farrell sticks to the ivories, while Endor, who was the original organ- izer of' the Yacht Club Boys, leans on the grand. Their Intimate de- livery is almost flawless and the slight Indigo in 'Trapeze' is never offensive. They went off to strong applause here, though the State audience seemed to base the reception oh their singing, when they actually deserve it for tho lyrlcis. Scho. HELEN REYNOLD'S SKATERS,(8) Skating 8 Miiis.; Full Palace, vN. Y. Files reveal that Helen Reynolds appeared in act with her father and mother, Ea.rle Reynolds and Nellie Donegah, back in 1924. Presumably this Is'the same miss who has sur- rounded herself with seven coftiely girls and imparted considerable of her skating skill to them. No rec- ord of this * new combination, but finished work of whole troupe in dicates it has been around. Skating in a circle on a .special mat, twirling of lighter girls in adagio and fancy, fashion constitutes principal thrills of this strong opener. Taller, stronger misses do the skating as the more petite members hang on by their arms, feet and ankles. With seven equally capa,ble assistants, there's not an unexciting moment in their whirling maneuvers. Eight skating wizards are hand somely garbed with an eye to flash results and just enough exposure ESDAILE-CLORE CLOSE PICCADILLY FOR VAUDE TED ADAIR REVUE (5) Dancing Flash 14 Mins,; Two and Three G. O. H., N. Y. Single--male-•nicflnber-opMis.-thl.i. act with dropped curtain singing hl.s liking lor different styles of ternslchore. Curtain opens , to a prop frame containing four glrla costumed to fit their dances. Start- ing from left to right, first selection is a bit of ballroomery followed by a brief rumba, a tap and some toe dancing. All are nicely togged and do well. Boy then does, a solo tap, with eontortlbns and .twirls—last his specialty,' Stately blonde does sonie , inter- prctscti v«"teriJtng-on- Irer-toesr -Brief- costume In baby blue with flowing train adds to Impressiveness of en- tiro production. ,-Adair keeps the act moving swiftly to bow in again with a new drop of a street scene and picks girl from interior of an ash can. Feigned unconsciousness of girl is part of tossing, acrobatic sequence interpolated here. New costumes here, also. Menu then affords a ainglie girl tap before dropped curtain. She re- turns with her femme contem- poraries all. decked in bespangled pink lounging piajamas and dancing their original bits. Adair completes turn -tvith a series of twirls, spins and. assorted gyrations in an out- landish costume. Expertly produced, neatly prop- ertied, intelligently timed and cos- tumed to. a dagree, this revue can- not fail. tp please in any vaude stand. Closed here. London, Sept, 24. Although the Noel Coward-Ger- trude Lawrence show, 'Tonight at 7:30,' was almost set to bow Into the Piccadilly the end of October, Al- fred Esdaile and Charles Clord are virtually set' to open a thrice dally vaudeville policy at the house. Two counter propositions have ^been turned down for the Pice, one of them presumably the Coward show. A third court hearing sanctioned the Esdaile-Clore project, althcufeli further legal entanglement.^ make the hoped for Sept. 29 premiere im- possible. Vaude policy is n>3w due- to start on Oct. 14 or 21. Piccadilly, basically a legit, has been dark for the past six months. It was straight films before that. LESLI Songa 10 Mins.; (One) G. b. H., N. Y. Two white girls singing In black- face and removing the ink on finale. Singing in the thrpaty manner not so forte, but bleaching In the close arouses ihterest. Pair are togged In Lenox avenue finery on entrance and proceed to gag ineffectively. Larger one sits on a camp chair to warble 'River Stay Way from My Door.' Plenty of power evidenced, but lack of qual-. ity. She merges With her partner for chorus of the dirge before.exit. Other girl reappears in male full dress for an unintelligible rendition of act's own song, which would leave auditors guessing. Little in- expert strutting doesn't help any. Finish has pair In gaudy, evening goWns singing in negro voices and then they yank coloring and wigs. No hand until heading for the wings for disclosure of blond hair and blonder faces. Surprise closing Is act's chief asset. PAULINE COOKE 1674 Broadway presents CARL FREED This- Week (Sept. 20), Palace, New.Yoric "COOKE A'O. L. OZ" BUY DOROTHEA ANTEL Invalid Actress, Famous Christmas Cards, 21 Original and Exclusive 'Ue- Hlgns, One Dollar, Agents Wanted to Sell Cards. Liberal Commission. Call or -write DOROTHEA ANTEI. 226 West 72nd Street. Mew York City The THEATRE of the STARS mem. BOOKING AGENCY GENERAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES LOEW BLDG. ANNEX 160 WEST 46T" ST. NEW YORK 9'?S00 J . H . L U B I N GENERAL MANAGER SIDNEY H. PIERMONT BOOKING MANAGER